


From Rufus to RJ

by mediasploshion



Category: Deponia (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Resurection, cloning, deponia - Freeform, maternity, tries to get her boyfriend back but becomes a mother by accident, whoopsies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2019-07-20 11:52:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16136669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mediasploshion/pseuds/mediasploshion
Summary: After the events of Doomsday, Goal travels around Deponia and finds an old cloning factory. She then tries to find a way to clone her boyfriend back to life.





	1. the cloning factory

The sun was beating down on Goal hard today as she walked through the heaping piles of garbage. It had been about two weeks since the fall of Elysium, and since her adventures through time with Rufus. She tried so hard to save him, to have everything be fixed. But sadly fate did not allow it and so she is left walking on her own through the trash. During those weeks she has at least grown accustomed to the sight a bit, still not the smell though. She would learn to get used to it eventually though, for now though she continued to travel. Goal hadn't really found a permanent home for herself yet. She just drifted from town to town, seeing the sights, meeting the people, and to just see what all Deponia had to offer. She had been walking for a good amount of time when she came across a strange building, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Quickly she learned it was something belonging to the Organon, considering the railway they transported on was feeding through it, and of course because their insignia was plastered on the place. Today she was feeling extra curious and decided to head in to check it out.

As expected, the place was completely barren. The only exception to this was several different kinds of plants growing all around the place. Goal explored the place and saw many different kinds of machines, though she had no idea how any of them really worked. Only when she came across a room with many files did she learn what the machines did and what this place was. She learned that it was a cloning factory and she also read about the plan for making the Organon. She even found the part explaining the prototypes, which of course caught her attention quickly as she got to the part that briefly mentioned a 'prototype R'. It was a very pleasant thing to see something mention Rufus again.

It didn't hit her immediately, but after a bit the idea hit her like a train to the face. She's a little surprised she didn't think of it sooner even. She can simply just clone Rufus and he'll be back good as new. She then quickly read up on how to work the machines and wasted no time getting to work. She saw the tanks needed refueling so first she grabbed anything she could use from her massive backpack and filled the tanks that way, then looked around the place for anything else she could use. One tank was still left mostly empty but the file on it said it was "optional". When everything seemed to be ready she quickly turned everything on and got it fired up, quickly choosing to clone Rufus.

The machine buzzed and whirred. A flash of light came from a few feet away where the cloning must have happened. Goal walked over to it, excited to see her boyfriend come back to life.

"Oh Rufus I'm so happy to see you aga-" Her words were cut off when she saw what had been cloned. It wasn't Rufus, or at least it wasn't the version of Rufus she was trying to get. No, this version was

"A baby?"

The small infant was asleep, but she could tell that it was really Rufus as the thing had pure red hair and his file said that Rufus originally had pure red hair. She was confused, why was he a baby? She had done everything needed to get the machine to work properly. She looked over the files again, especially the one about the "optional" tank. Turns out it is only optional if you don't care what age the clone comes out as. It was the tank for nucleic acid, and without that then clones couldn't be aged up quickly. As she kept reading through the files, trying to see how she could get nucleic acid, little Rufus had woken up and quickly started crying as the cloning pod he was still in was cold and he didn't like it. Goal looked away from the files and towards the small child, growing concerned for it.

"Oh no it's alright Rufus, don't cry." 

She picked him up then and tried to soothe him. Quickly he calmed down as he found comfort in the warmth in being in her arms and soon after it was right back to sleep for him. Goal found her current situation strange, she had recloned her dead boyfriend but he came out as a baby and now she was holding him in her arms. Though she would admit she might have found him cuter this way, she still wanted her full grown boyfriend back. She carried the small child around with her then as she looked around the place trying to see if maybe there is some nucleic acid stored somewhere. After awhile though her search was not very fruitful.

When Goal's search was coming to an end, little Rufus woke up again crying.

"Oh please don't cry, what's wrong now?"

She tried her best to see why he would be upset now and after a bit she came to the conclusion that maybe he is just hungry. She grew concerned though as she wondered how she was even going to feed him. It wasn't exactly like she could just produce milk at random and she certainly didn't have a bottle of milk with her. But she did remember she had a jar of goat's milk in her bag, still no bottle but she can figure something out. She sets little Rufus down then and grabs the jar from her bag then puts the infant in her lap. She tried to feed him by just ever so slowly pouring small amounts of milk into his mouth so he wouldn't be so hungry. It had a rocky start but the idea seemed to work as Rufus was drinking whatever entered his mouth. After a while she was sure he was full and then tried to help burp the little guy. Once that was done she just held Rufus in her arms and looked at him. He looked up at her with that goofy smile he always had, even as a baby he had that goofy little smile, and Goal found it so cute. But she still missed seeing that Goofy smile on the old Rufus she knew. She sighed and spoke.

"Oh what am I going to do?"

She wasn't fully prepared on raising a child at random, she's not even ready for when that milk eventually comes out the other end. But she couldn't just abandon the little guy or throw him back into the machine, that would just be cruel. She just needed to find a way to get pure nucleic acid and then she would have the old Rufus back, she just had no idea how she was going to get that stuff though. For now though she shouldn't stay here though, she barely has anything to care for this guy. She promises to herself to return to this facility as soon as possible so she can find a way to get nucleic acid. For now though she headed back to the nearest town with little Rufus in tow.


	2. The First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goal and Rufus enjoy their first day together in their strange situation

On the walk to town Goal learned that Rufus is a very grabby baby. For the most part she was able to get him to mostly cling to her tank top, but there would be times where he would reach for her hair and yank it a little. She would have to pry his little hand off and move it to her tank top strap just to reclaim her hair. He may be cute as a button now but he still seemed to be just as annoying, and persistent. At least it only happened every once in a while. Other then that the walk was easy enough to deal with, Rufus didn't really cry again since he was entertained and happy in Goal's arms. Since the mind of the little infant was underdeveloped he didn't remember any of his past life, he didn't even remember Goal. But the small thing found happiness and comfort being in her arms, even if he didn't understand it.

After a few hours the two made it to the nearest town and Goal quickly went shopping for supplies so she could more properly care for Rufus in his current state. Which was good because something was starting to smell and she was sure it wasn't just one of the usual bad smells Deponia had to offer. She was at least very glad he got cloned with a diaper already on, now it was time to get more.

At first while on their little shopping adventure, Rufus showed even more how he was a grabby baby. He tried to grab any thing he found interesting and wanted to play with, which was practically everything. Luckily Goal found a little rattle and got it for him, now he could be constantly entertained. It only worked for so long though as he could only go so long before the mess started to make him cry. Luckily again Goal quickly found some diapers and gave Rufus a little change. He was still a little sad until Goal picked him up again, and then hit her in the nose with his new rattle.

"Hey, is that how you thank someone for cleaning you up little mister?" Rufus just giggled and all was fine again with him. Goal couldn't help but giggle as well at his antics.

"You are such a funny little baby, you know that?" For a response Goal just got another whack in the nose.

"Alright enough of that, I mean it." She gave a more stern and Rufus' little smile went away. Her not being happy made him not happy, so he stopped then.

"There, thank you." Her stern expression went away and was replaced with a nice warm smile. Soon Rufus got his smile back as well.

Once Goal had bought everything she needed she headed out then, next thing on the list was to find a nice place to sleep when bed time for a certain someone eventually comes. Fortunately there was a decent motel to stay in that was cheap so she heads there to get a room. Once in their room Goal sets Rufus down and starts setting some things up, and got his dinner bottle ready. Meanwhile with Rufus not being supervised he began to crawl around and explore, soon almost falling off of a table he had just climbed on. Luckily Goal spotted him and quickly moved him to the floor.

"No, we don't go on tables ok, you can play on the floor."

The rule didn't stick though at first as he tried exploring again. He only stopped after the third time when Goal gave a stern look again. Now he was crawling under stuff. Goal kept an eye on him and soon it was dinner time for him. He was much happier with the food this time as it was properly heated. Once he was fed and burped it was back to playing for a little bit. And back to crawling under stuff.

"Rufus no." Sigh

"It is just impossible for you to stay still for even a few seconds isn't it?" He giggled at her from under the bed, which Goal had to fish him out from.

Eventually it was time for a certain infant to go to bed. Goal tried to lull him to sleep but nothing seemed to work as he continued to just stare at her and wanted to play. Finally though he fell asleep when Goal started to sing a lullaby to him. Once he was fully out she set him down in a nice little comfy spot she made on the bed for him. With him dealt with Goal stayed up for a bit longer trying to think of what to do next. After a bit she knew just what she had to do tomorrow. She'll sleep in a little early to get enough energy to walk a lot, go back to the facility, look again for nucleic acid, see if she can also find the location of other cloning factories and search there. One of them is bound to have the acid. Then she could have the old Rufus back and everything would be great. With that settled she lays down in bed then and falls asleep, the first day with little Rufus being over.


	3. Morning Mischief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rufus just does his thing in the morning

Goal was enjoying a nice calm sleep when loud crying forced her awake. At first she was confused as to why there was crying, but once she saw little Rufus she remembered the events of yesterday and remembered she has a baby to take care of now. She sat up then still half asleep, the loud crying was at least keeping her from falling back asleep. She picked up Rufus and tried to calm him down, but with no luck. He seemed to only get louder since his needs weren't being taken care of. Goal went through a mental list of what could possibly be the problem and she narrows it down to he is possibly just hungry. She gets up then and gets a bottle ready. Rufus though kept crying and even started to thrash his arms around until Goal finally got the bottle in his mouth. Once he was finally being fed he had a complete 180 from being the loudest thing Goal has ever heard, to being a very calm little baby again. Goal sighed as there was finally some silence again. As soon as Rufus was done being fed he went straight back to sleep.

"Let's hope this is just the only night when you get that fussy." She did hope that there would be no more nights like that, but there probably will be a lot more like it. She then set Rufus down back in his little spot, layed down, and went straight to sleep herself.

The next morning she woke up peacefully, luckily she got enough sleep to be energized for the day. She turned over to face Rufus to pick him up and give him breakfast when she saw that he was gone.

"Rufus? Rufus where did you go?"

She quickly got up and tried looking around for him, quickly getting a bit worried that he was nowhere in sight. It wasn't hard to find him though as something could be heard crashing onto the floor. Goal went to the mess, looked up, and saw Rufus on a shelf a good few feet above the ground. Apparently he pushed over a vase. Goal stood in awe for a moment as she had no idea how Rufus even got up there.

"Rufus, what are you doing, how did you eve- get down from there." She grabs him then and all he does is laugh at the fun he was having.

"Even when this tiny you just seem to cause strange messes don't you, funny little baby." She couldn't stay mad at Rufus forever, especially with a cute little face like that.

"But no more shelves you hear me, you stay on the ground." She gave her stern look to make sure that he would listen. He stared back at her for a bit, then started to look pouty because he's hungry again.

Goal stops giving a stern look and goes to feed him, and change him too. Once she's done with that she also figures that maybe it's time for a certain someone to get a bath, they both could have honestly used one. First though she'll clean him and just get a shower once Rufus is down for a nap. She goes and fills up the sink in the bathroom with some decent warm water and gets Rufus.

"Come on Rufus, it's bath time." He heard the dreaded word and immediately tried to crawl out of the room. Goal was quick to snatch him up though.

"Now now, no running away from me." Rufus continued to try to wiggle out of her grasp to no avail. He was being very fussy until he was forced in the water.

"It's just a little bath Rufus, it won't kill you."

He only stopped fighting when he was put in the water and was well enough wet, too late to fight it now. With no more fighting Goal got him nice and clean then, making a few bubbles too with some soap for Rufus to play with. After a bit Rufus was nice and clean now. Goal then dried him off and dressed him in a nice orange onesie she got while shopping yesterday.

"There we go, so cute." Rufus didn't want to wear stuff though so he tried to figure out how to get it off.

"Aw come on Rufus, it's not that bad, keep it on." He became pouty then, he wanted his freedom. He quickly got distracted from what was making him pouty though as Goal gave him his rattle and he started having fun with it.

Rufus kept playing around, Goal had to move him around a few times as he was getting close to doing something dangerous. Eventually he tired himself out though and fell asleep. Goal picked him up and set him on the bed and then went to give herself a needed shower. Once she was dried off and dressed she started packing her things so she could get ready to go back to the factory. She would have waited for Rufus to wake up again but having him asleep for the first portion of the walk seemed like a better option. So she picked him up and headed out.


	4. Factory hunting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goal goes looking for other factories to find nucleic acid

Goal got through most of the walk back to the facility with Rufus just sleeping in her arms, but eventually he did wake up and wanted to be entertained. Goal did her best to entertain him while also keeping up the strong pace she had so far. As a way to entertain him she decided to tell him the story of a hero that saved the world from destruction. A hero that traveled far and wide to help the girl he loved. Little Rufus seemed so excited when he was being told this story.

"And that very same man sacrificed himself to save countless lives. And you know something else about that man? He got turned into a cute little baby and was told the story of his greatness as they go make him big again. Did you like that story my little hero?"

Rufus seemed very happy once the story was over, he liked listening to it.

Goal started to make up stories then to tell him until they got back to the cloning factory. Once there she went straight to the room with all the files to see if it could tell her where other factories are. Meanwhile she left a few files out for Rufus to mess around with so he can stay in one spot to entertain himself. After a few minutes she luckily did find a file with the locations of other factories, now she could just go to one of them and see if they have any nucleic acid left. As she was putting the file away in her backpack she heard Rufus trying to blow a raspberry at something.

"Now what are you doing?"

She looks to see he was doing this at a file containing the information on 'Prototype C'. Though Rufus didn't know how to read in his current state, something about that particular arrangement of letters made him annoyed. Goal couldn't help but giggle a bit.

"Still find Cletus annoying huh?"

Rufus kept attempting to blow a raspberry but was just mainly drooling everywhere. Goal picked him up then to get him to stop looking at the file and to wipe his face clean.

"Now now, no need to make a mess over him. You'll probably never see him again anyway so don't be so grouchy with him." Goal hadn't really seen Cletus since Elysium fell, she did try to look for him but she just never found anything. So she didn't really know if he was ok or not.

"well anyway come on, we've got to get moving if we're ever gonna make you big again." She was about to head out until Rufus started to look pouty like he seems to usually do when he's hungry. "After you're fed of course"

She feeds Rufus then and tries to get him to nap again to make the first part of this journey easy at least. Her attempts work as he does fall asleep once again. She starts heading in the direction of the closest cloning factory hoping they either hit that or another town before night hits. At one point though Goal's arms started to get tired carrying little Rufus around all the time so she made a quick little stop to try and see if she could find a way to carry Rufus while being hands free. Luckily she had a scarf in her bag and with some strong knots she was able to make a sling to carry Rufus in now. With that settled with Goal continued on her way.

It took a few hours and a few stories to entertain Rufus when he woke up until the two reached the next cloning factory, apparently that was closer than a town. Once inside Goal looks around trying to find some nucleic acid. Meanwhile Rufus was fidgeting in the sling, he wanted to be out of it and explore the place.

"Rufus stop squirming so much, you might fall out and hurt yourself." He didn't seem to listen though and tried anyway.

"hmmm ... alright alright, I'll let you crawl around for a little bit." 

She sets Rufus down then and he begins crawling around the place. And immediately Goal had to pick him up again as he was about to try and stick a stray piece of metal in his mouth because it looked shiny.

"No Rufus, we don't put random things in our mouths. Now either be good or it's back in the sling with you."

She sets him down again and trusts that he listened to her. He begins crawling around again and this time found his way onto a table.

"You just love climbing things don't you?"

Rufus only gave a goofy smile to her as he continued to crawl around, almost falling off the table in the process.

"Last warning Rufus, either be good and on the floor, or enjoy the sling."

She once again sets him down on the floor and quickly he's trying to climb a counter that's even higher off the ground. Goal picks him up before he could even try and puts him back in the sling. He becomes pouty but Goal wouldn't let that cute little look break her this time, he had his chance to listen and failed. Goal continued her own search then, but sadly like the last facility, it came up unfruitful. 

"Guess they don't have any here." She pulled out the map of where all the cloning factories were. "Here Rufus why don't you choose which one we go to next, maybe your luck is better than mine."

Rufus then reached out and patted the paper. Goal marked off the two they were already at and put a tick mark near the one Rufus was the closest to patting.

"Alright, that looks like a bit of a long walk away. But we'll get started on that trip tomorrow."

Goal would have liked to get on the road again as soon as possible but night was approaching and she would need her sleep. Plus it just wouldn't be right to keep moving Rufus around when he should be sleeping. With her own plan mentally jotted down she tried to find a nice place to sleep for the night. When she found a good enough spot she then fed Rufus dinner, though this time he wasn't as normally happy with it.

"I know you like it warmer but I have nothing to heat it with, and I definitely don't want to start a fire with you too close to it, for both of our safety."

She fed Rufus then and ate a few things from her bag. Goal then used the scarf she used as a sling to now be a layer between Rufus and the cold floor of this place so he wouldn't get too cold. She then pulled a small blanket from her bag and draped it over the two of them. Once again she sang Rufus to sleep, but before she fell asleep herself she gave a little kiss on his cheek.

"Goodnight cutie ... try not to wake up so grumpy tonight ok." And with that she soon fell asleep herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Z you made me mention cletus, you got me


	5. More Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just some more moments of Goal and Rufus together

During the night Rufus once again woke up hungry and loud about it. Goal was slowly getting accustomed to it, but not much since this was just the second night. She fed him and tried to quickly go back to sleep, but Rufus didn't want to sleep anymore. He wanted to explore and play and stuff. Goal wasn't having it though.

"Rufus please just go to sleep, you can play all you want in the morning." He didn't listen though and began crawling away until Goal picked him up.

She didn't feel like trying to argue with the infant and instead just layed down and held Rufus to her chest and went back to sleep. Eventually Rufus did the same, finding this bed to be much better. Goal enjoys the rest of her needed sleep then and gets to wake up to Rufus drooling all over her in his sleep. It was a little cute but mostly just gross. She sets him down then and changes shirts. While she was doing that though Rufus woke up since Goal's warmth was gone and he went off to do his own adventure. By the time Goal turned back to Rufus he was already out of sight. She quickly became worried.

"Rufus, where did you go now? Rufus make some kind of noise."

She started looking around, trying to find him as quickly as possible. She grew more worried by the second as she couldn't seem to find Rufus. After about five minute of searching though she was finally able to find him because he had began crying. She followed the sound until she found Rufus, crying profusely. Part of his onsie was ripped and showed that he had a cut on his leg. He tried to climb stuff again but this time fell and hurt himself.

"Oh don't cry, it's ok, you'll feel better in a minute."

Goal picked him up then and tried to console him as she walked back to her backpack and pulled out a band-aid. She put it on his leg and kissed it better.

"there, all patched up now. Now don't you dare wander off like that again ok." Though Rufus had stopped crying, he still looked sad and reached out for Goal. She quickly then picked him up.

"There there, you're ok now, no need to be sad."

She spent some time then consoling Rufus and trying to make him feel better. Once he was calm again she fed him and herself and then packed everything up. Once that was done it was back on the road for those two. Rufus repeatedly almost fell out of the sling as he kept trying to reach out to shiny things he wanted to play with. Once Goal had enough of that she simply just went back to carrying Rufus in her arms, she could handle it for a few hours. By the time Goal's feet were starting to get tired she was getting close to a nearby town. She figures to stay there for the rest of the day and continue the journey tomorrow. She heads in then and finds a nice spot to just stop and rest for a bit. She sets Rufus down so he can get to stretch his little legs more but keeps a close eye in case he tries to crawl away. For some reason though he was being more of a good boy and only stayed close to Goal, even hugging her leg at one point. Goal couldn't help but find him to be just the most adorable thing.

She played with Rufus for a bit and then picked him up again to start to have a proper look around town. It seemed to be a fishing town considering it was right on the shoreline, the smell of the ocean and fish was everywhere, and there was a very big dock on one side of town. Before finding a place to sleep for the night Goal decided to take Rufus to the end of one of the docks to let him see the ocean. Not long after a water platypus stuck it's head above the water and Rufus started reaching out to it, wanting to hold it. He was close to almost falling out of Goal's arms from his attempts to reach the platypus.

"Rufus calm down, you're gonna fall into the water at this rate." As usual though he wasn't listening and kept trying. Goal had to make him turn his head to look at him and she gave her stern look and he soon calmed down.

When he looked back at the water the platypus was gone. He was a little sad he didn't get to play with it though.

"Aw cheer up Rufus, I'm sure we'll come across another platypus for you to play with, one that isn't in the water."

They stayed by the dock for just a little longer but then Goal decided it was time to find a motel for them to spend the night in. Luckily she found one rather quickly and so they spent the night there.


	6. Is he still Rufus?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goal questions things a lot

Over the next few days Goal had traveled far and wide for other cloning factories, looking for the last thing needed to fully bring Rufus back. But sadly no matter how hard she looked, nothing ever came up. She had finished looking through her fourth factory on her journey when she started to feel like she was practically fighting a losing battle. She just wanted to bring Rufus back. To hear his voice, his laugh. To see that reassuring, sometimes cocky smile. To hold him in her arms and have him hold her back. To have a life together she always imagined having during her last year on Elysium. She was currently sitting down on a crate, looking a little defeated. She set Rufus down a little while ago since he was sleeping. But he had soon woken up and crawled over to her, wondering why she looked sad. He crawled up to her leg and hugged her ankle. He didn't want to see her be sad, he doesn't like her being sad. She looked down at him and smiled a bit, finding him to be very cute and sweet right now. She soon picked him up and just held him in her arms as she kept looking at his little face.

"At least you're here like this instead of fully gone Rufus ... though I still do wish I could just make you older."

Though having such a cute baby around was nice, the fact that she knew that it was Rufus just made her yearn for him a bit more. Because here he was, right in her arms, looking back at her with those big rust brown eyes. But it was still just a baby, an infant that didn't know of the adventures Goal and Rufus had gone through, that didn't even know Goal when he first saw her. 

She thought then of what she would do if she really never did find nucleic acid, if little Rufus just grew up the natural way. Would it even be Rufus anymore? Would he remember all their adventures if he just hit the age where they happened? So many questions and worries started to flood Goal's mind. Her smile went away at that point, she was unable to keep it up as she just kept thinking of so many things. It was slowly making Rufus upset too as he didn't like seeing her so worried and sad. He started reaching up to her, wanting to hug her. He was also close to crying. Goal snapped out of her haze as she heard Rufus sniffle a few times and saw him reaching out. She lifted him up more then so she could hug and console the poor thing, Rufus hugging her in return and he started to feel better.

"There there, no need to be upset now."

At least even as an infant that remembered nothing, Rufus still cared about Goal a great deal. And soon Goal started to think that maybe her acting so strange and down was upsetting Rufus. So she tried to keep her hopes high like Rufus always would. There was still a great chance that the old Rufus could be brought back, she just need to look harder. There were still plenty of other factories to go to, they hadn't even gone to the ones on other continents so there was still a great chance.

Goal spent some time then cheering up Rufus before she started to head out to a nearby town. Once they had reached it she looked for a motel to stay in. She found one and then checked if she had enough money to spend the night. Sadly she was a few zlottis short. Turns out traveling from place to place, spending most nights in hotels, and having no job makes you run out of money fairly fast, especially when a baby is added to the equation. Goal tried to think of how to get more money because she really didn't want to force herself and Rufus to sleep outside. It was already getting quite late so finding some quick job to earn quick money was going to be hard to find. She would have to turn to just begging for money. Luckily having a baby in your arms would help a bit in pity points to make people want to give money. Soon enough a woman does walk up to her offering some money, feeling so bad for her.

"It's so sad seeing a single mother be in a position where she has to beg, I truly hope things get better for you."

"Oh um ... thank you very much, Rufus say thank you." He responds with random garble.

"Oh he is just so cute, well I hope you have a good night."

"You too."

The woman leaves then. Goal was close to correcting her that Rufus wasn't her son but decided against that as saying he was her boyfriend turned into a baby because of cloning shenanigans would probably make her sound crazy and possibly make people want to take Rufus away from a mad woman. She just took the money she was given and used that to pay the full price for spending the night at the motel. 

Once in their room she gets to feeding Rufus and thinks back again to that woman calling Rufus her son. It started to make her go back to questioning many things again but soon just tried to push those thoughts aside as she had to care for Rufus right now. She gives him a quick bath before bed in the sink and once he's dried off and laying on the bed she tells him a story to fall asleep to. Once he does she lays down in bed as well and starts to think of what she should do next. Going to the next cloning factory as soon as possible would be good for the search, but having no money would make caring for Rufus and herself much harder. And she wasn't sure if she could just beg her way to get all the money she could ever need. Perhaps she should just stay in town for a few days to at least make some cash and then she could head for the next factory. There are bound to be a few quick ways for her to make money. She could possibly even babysit some other kids in town, it would give Rufus someone to play with while she tries to earn money. It seemed like a good plan so she soon fell asleep, ready to take on the next day.


	7. You're RJ now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goal makes a big decision

The next day after dealing with the morning routine to care for Rufus, Goal headed out and tried to get the word out that she is available to be a hired babysitter at a decent enough price. Luckily it seemed that some people were in need of a babysitter soon, one couple even needed one today. Goal happily accepted the job and brought Rufus and her things over to the couple's house to watch their two daughters. Caring for a six year old and an eight year old would be very different from caring for a baby, but Goal did have experience watching over the kids of her friends so it shouldn't have been that difficult for her. Once the couple had left the two girls almost swarmed Goal just so they could see Rufus.

"Oh he's soooo cute."

"Can we play dress up with him?" The two just wanted to play with the adorable small infant.

"hmmm .... alright, but you choose the outfit, I'll dress him alright."

The two cheered and went to get the clothes they use on their dolls to dress Rufus up in. The girls then played a bit of dress up, though Rufus got fussy about it at one point as he didn't find it to be fun at all. The three just giggled at how cute Rufus' pouty face was. Finally after Rufus was put into a few cute dresses, he was put back into his onsie.

"Ok, dress up time is over. A certain someone needs his nap."

"Awwww" Goal goes and lays Rufus down for a nap in another room and left the door opened a bit so if he wakes up fussy then she could hear him.

"So how old is Rufus?"

"Does he have siblings?"

"If he does are they with their dad?"

"Will you be our permanent babysitter?"

"Yeah, so then could we see Rufus all the time?"

"Ok calm down girls, one question at a time." Goal was not ready for the barrage of questions out of nowhere.

"Well first off, no Rufus does not have any siblings, or a father."

"Aw why not?"

"Well you see, um ... he got very sick one day and sadly passed away."

"Aww."

"I know, but I don't feel so sad about it anymore. I have little Rufus to cheer my up anyway. Now he is about, hmm ... a month old." She knows Rufus was only really a few weeks old, but he was moving around a lot more than any newborn so rounding it up to a month sounded about right.

"Will you stay our babysitter though?"

"Well I'm not sure about that. You see one day soon I plan on leaving town."

"Aw why?"

"Don't go."

"I'm sorry, but you see ... I just want to find the perfect home for me and Rufus, so I want to travel around first before I settle down."

"I hope it's here and you come back soon."

"We'll just have to see about that little missy."

Goal spent some time playing with the two kids then, she also answered any other questions they may have had. At one point they even asked what the 'father's' name was and she figured to just say Rufus' name.

"So Rufus is named after his dad?"

"Is he Rufus Jr. then?"

"Um ... yes, yes he is. I just like to call him by Rufus though."

"Can I call him RJ?"

"Yes you can dear."

She continued playing with the girls until Rufus woke up hungry again. Once he was fed he was brought into the fun as well. The two stayed around for a few more hours until the parents of the girls came home, thanked Goal for babysitting, and then payed her. They plan another job for Goal sometime soon and she happily agreed to it. Once things were settled Goal left then and headed back to the motel. She was able to pay for another night and even had spare money left over to buy at least something food wise. She used that money to buy Rufus some more milk then, she still had plenty of food in her bag to last herself a week at least. 

She played with Rufus then until night struck. She then fed him and put him to bed. Goal then layed down and began to think about things before bed again. Mainly about how the little infant next to her was called Rufus Jr. for a lot of the day. She started to think about how that infant perhaps really wasn't Rufus anymore, but a second one beginning a new life. She tried not to think all that much on it though as she would have stayed up for hours if she kept thinking too much. Goal pushed the thoughts aside then and just tried to go to sleep.

Over the next few days Goal babysat for several other children, the two girls from before included. The pay was very decent as it allowed Goal to continue to stay at the motel and also buy other needed things. The kids all kept referring to Rufus and RJ, and the more that it happened, and the longer Goal stayed in town, the more she began to think. She came to the conclusion then that she had two options. Either continue the search to fully bring Rufus back, or end the search and raise this small child as her own and treat him like Rufus' son rather than Rufus himself. It was a long and hard process for her to decide, but eventually she did.

She was currently caring for the two girls she first watched over.

"Oh girls, I have a surprise I think you both will like."

"What is it?"

"Tell us."

"Remember how you asked if I would stay as your babysitter, but I said I would leave town soon? Well I have changed my mind, me and RJ are staying right here, it seems like the perfect place to live."

"Yay!"

Goal had decided that it was time to fully let go. She was able to let go of Rufus before, she should be able to fully do it now. Especially now since she has her own child to care for. From that point on then she stopped calling the child Rufus and only referred to him as RJ, finding it to be much better.


	8. A familiar face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goal is finally settling down and raising the kid for her own, but she meets a familiar face along the way

After Goal had fully decided to just raise little RJ as her own, she had been fully working to try and get the two of them out of the motel and move into their own home. She even tried doing a few side things to earn extra cash. It mainly involved cleaning something. She had spent several weeks of this routine to try and raise the money, and finally one day she had everything she needed. 

She was currently packing things up and returning some borrowed stuff from other tenants and mostly the guy at the front desk. She left the room to go return the last thing, leaving the door open a bit so she could hear RJ if he woke up from his nap. Her room wasn't that far from the front desk so she was positive RJ would be fine. She turned the corner but quickly stopped in her tracks as first she heard a very very familiar voice.

"Don't you have any fairly cheap rooms that aren't so disgusting?"

"Look man, the only room we got like that is still occupied, so either pay more for a better room, or just accept the condition of the cheap ones." The man let out a bit of an exasperated sigh in defeat.

"Fine, I'll accept the cheap one then. But it at least better not have it's window pointed to the shore, I can hardly stand the putrid smell."

The man behind the front desk just rolled his eyes and started going through keys. That's when Goal finally spoke up. "... Cletus?"

He flinched a bit as hearing her voice was something truly unexpected. He thought he would never hear it again in his life, that she had been lost too. Cletus turned his head to make sure the source of that voice was actually there and not just in his head. His eyes grew even wider as he saw she was really in fact there, right in front of him.

The two found themselves at a loss for words as they couldn't believe the sight in front of each other. It had been weeks since they had seen the other and both were starting to accept they may have never seen each other again. Yet fate had twisted itself to create this moment. The mutual silence was at last broken when Goal went up to Cletus and hugged him.

"I'm so glad to see you're ok."

Cletus was still a bit stunned, stiffening up more even as he just wasn't expecting any of this. The contact, her being happy to see him, even just seeing her at all. He remained silent for a bit until he finally snapped out of his haze a bit. "... you are?" "Of course I am, I didn't know what happened to you at all. I had almost accepted the worst, yet here you are, just fine."

"... I'm glad to see you're ok as well. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, well I was staying in this motel for a while but right now I'm just about leaving to my new home. I'm going to live here, what about you?"

"Well um, I was just going to stay here for a day, I'm still looking for my own place to live. But really, you're staying here? How can you stand the rancid smell of rotting fish?"

"You get used to it after a few days ... but you know Cletus, the home I just bought is rather sizable for just two people, I'm sure it could perfectly fit the three of us."

"Wait ... you're really asking me to stay with you ... even after everything?"

"Well ... I've had a lot of time to think back to everything that happened, to your actions and even my own. I was a bit unfair to you when we returned to Elysium, and I'm sorry for it. I still look back at some of your actions and find them unacceptable, but you had your reasons. And it was all such a long time ago, I believe it is time for all of us to move on and try again."

Cletus was taken aback a bit by all of what she said. And he was very happy to hear he was given yet another chance to try and be with Goal, even if being in a relationship wasn't mentioned and that may never happen again. Being around her again, having that sense of familiarity in this disgusting and strange world would do wonders for him. He was about to speak again when something Goal had said earlier had finally hit him and he quickly became confused.

"Wait a minute, the three of us? Who else is living with you?"

Goal was about to explain when the third party himself started crying in the room. Once Goal had heard it she quickly went to check on RJ, Cletus followed her wondering what the heck she meant and what she was doing now. When she was back Goal picked up RJ and tried to console him as he just seemed upset to be alone. That gave Cletus a big eyefull of the third party in question.

"Wait you have a baby? When did you have a baby?!" He was just confused as he didn't expect this at all.

Once RJ got a look at Cletus though, he quickly became pouty and started blowing raspberries at him.

"Oh RJ behave, I know you're still annoyed with him but it's time to be nice."

"Still annoyed with me? I've never seen that little pest in my life, how could it possibly be still annoyed with me?"

"Well you see Cletus ... let me just give you the short version of this first. Cletus, this is Rufus, but as a baby."

"Rufus?! Why is he an infant though, I would like the long explanation please."

"Alright, you see a few weeks ago I found an old cloning facility of the Organon. It had files on clones and prototypes and soon I found one about Rufus. I then thought to try and bring Rufus back by simply cloning him. Everything was fine up until I found out I was one ingredient short. There simply wasn't enough nucleic acid and because of that Rufus came out as a baby. I tried for so long to find some, going from facility to facility, but I never found any. Eventually I started asking myself if this infant even was Rufus anymore. By that point we were here, I started babysitting children in this town and they soon all called him RJ instead of Rufus as I told them a fib that this child's father was a man named Rufus. After that I came to a decision, keep my new son RJ, or keep searching for Rufus. I decided on keeping my son, and now here we are."

Cletus was speechless for a bit from that whole explanation. Rufus was technically alive again but was now Goal's adopted son, that was just a hard thought to process. Eventually he finally moved by pinching the bridge of his nose.

"So now you're telling me that if I agree to stay with you, then I have to live with that ... thing?"

"Oh come now Cletus, he's not that bad."

"This is Rufus we're talking about, one of the most destructive forces I've ever seen, now as an infant which only makes him twice as destructive and three times more unable to listen."

"He listens to me if I tell him to stop doing something. Really Cletus, he's not that bad. He's a very good boy, aren't you my little sweetie pea." Little RJ smiled at her and even laughed a bit, loving the praise and sweet nickname.

Cletus however groaned a bit, now having to decide either to continue crawling his way through the trash to find a suitable home, or live with the infantile creature that forced him to be stuck down here in the first place. Soon though he saw that staying with Goal was just the best option to go with and he sighed.

"Alright, I suppose I could stay in the same vicinity as that thing."

"I'm glad to hear it, are you glad RJ?"

He answered by continuing to blow raspberries at Cletus. The snobbish man made a bit of a disgusted face at just how much slobber was coming out of the small spawn. But Goal was able to put a stop to it and clean RJ from all his drool. Now with everything finally settled the three could move into their new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know, I had plans for this to go a different way, but then Z had to bring up Cletus and he infected my mind until we got to here, dang you Z ... but also thanks because I think this direction for the story is a bit nicer than the other one I was thinking of


	9. Try Bonding Boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cletus enjoys and despises his first day living with Goal and RJ, and is also left to bond with RJ

Though Cletus was more than overjoyed that he didn't have to keep spending nights in motels, or renting a room in someone else's house. He was living with Goal, the best option possible in this entire world. But he also had to live with the worst option possible. Rufus as a toddler. This must have been the world's last straw in making him pay for the things he did. Oh how he just wished this wasn't part of the best possible option for him. But there was no fighting it, he was tired of fighting things at this point. He may accept this new tiny hell, but he could still complain.

"Why does he keep staring at me like that?" RJ was making an aggressively pouty face at Cletus. He was even turning a bit red from it.

"RJ relax, Cletus won't do anything bad. I think he still just recognizes you."

"Oh joy." He spoke with a dead sarcastic tone and then just stopped looking at RJ so he could pay no mind to his face.

Goal tried to get RJ to just relax and stop making so many faces at Cletus. Even if Cletus still did anything bad, there was no way she would keep Cletus around then. They both knew that. Cletus leaves then to find his own room to stay in and just put his stuff away. It was mostly just some clothes and tiny trinkets he was able to get before leaving Elysium. He also finally takes off the duster he was wearing. Though he hated it so much because it was Rufus', he can admit at least that all the space in it was very useful when having to travel so much.

Meanwhile Goal was getting her and RJ's things put away while also playing with RJ a bit. She wanted to get things put away a bit quickly since she had a sitter job in an hour. She also had a bit of a plan for when she would leave. Soon enough the time arose and she was getting ready to leave. Cletus left his room at that point and wondered what she was doing.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"Yes, I have a babysitting job that will last only a few hours. While I'm gone I need you to watch RJ for me."

"What?! You're just leaving me with that thing? Can't you just take him with you?"

"I would, but I want him to settle into his new home. So you're watching him then."

"Goal please-"

"Cletus, it is just a few hours alright, you'll survive."

"Barely." Cletus muttered under his breath. He was about to protest more when Goal just walked right out the door. Great now he's stuck with the little hellian. 

Cletus just glanced over at RJ, who was now crawling away to anywhere that is not near Cletus.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Cletus leaned down and grabbed the little spawn, but RJ then immediately began to thrash around. He refused to let Cletus hold him. Cletus just set him back down then.

"you can't even talk and already you're more insufferable than before."

Cletus just left him to do whatever he pleases, if there's a loud noise then he knows RJ did something that he'll have to clean up. He then sauntered off himself and found a note on the coffee table. It was from Goal telling him how to properly care for RJ since she figured he would have barely a clue on how to do most things. Like how to properly heat his bottles and so on. At least it would help later on.

Just as Cletus was beginning to calm down, he heard a crash down the hall and was quickly irritated again. He left to go see the damages and found RJ, in his room, on a shelf, knocking stuff over.

"Quit that!" Cletus quickly grabbed RJ, set him outside, and locked the door so he could clean the new mess.

Once that was done he had another look at that note and saw one part saying 'RJ NEEDS a bath before I get home.' Cletus was much less than thrilled on that idea but knew that Goal would be mad if he just didn't do it. But he can still at least put it off for a while.

Cletus left his room after a few moments and kept it locked, good thing all the rooms here have keys. And then was met with the sound of loud crying. When he went to go check on RJ, he found the infant had hurt himself as he was climbing on the tables again. Luckily there were no cuts but there was still a bruised baby crying his eyes out. Cletus had attempted to try and do anything to calm him down, but RJ kept thrashing if Cletus got too close so nothing really worked. Cletus just started doing anything that came to mind to just make this kid shut up and soon found the rattle. Eventually it got RJ to calm down and take the rattle.

"Finally." And then beat Cletus on the nose with it and laugh. Laughter is truly the best medicine.

"Gah! Why you insufferable little ... hmph." Cletus tried to keep his composure, at the very least the kid wasn't crying anymore so a small win there.

After that the afternoon was just an endless struggle to get RJ to sit still and behave. RJ would try to climb anything that got in his way, thrash about if Cletus tried grabbing him, beat Cletus with his rattle, and just wreck the place. Cletus was quickly getting more and more infuriated and just made a cage to hold RJ in that finally worked. That only gave about 5 minutes of peace though as RJ needed to be changed. Cletus swears to never change a diaper again after that experience. He just collapses on the couch and prays to get a proper break and for Goal to come home already.

Cletus' prayers seemed to be answered as he hadn't heard anything for about 20 minutes now, which was highly suspicious at this point. He checked around the house then to see where RJ had run off to now, but he was no where. No matter where Cletus looked he just couldn't find the infant, but did find a big enough hole in the wall for RJ to slip through if he tried. Cletus grew a bit pale now at that thought that if Goal comes home right now, she's going to kill him when she finds RJ is gone. He immediately leaves the house then and starts going around town looking for the little brat. Getting more and more desperate to find him as time went on. It was about 15 minutes of searching until Cletus finally found him with a pair of girls that Goal usually babysits, and they were giving RJ a makeover. RJ was clearly unhappy with this. Cletus quickly picked up the child, who finally didn't thrash for once.

"There you are you little wretch."

"Hey, put him down!"

"He shouldn't even be out here, I'm taking him home so enough play time."

"He's not your's, he's Goal's."

"I'm her roommate, now beat it brats."

Before Cletus could get into a bigger fight with children he then left. Once home he felt like now was finally the time to give RJ a bath as he face was covered in bad makeup. Of course bath time was just another battle but Cletus wasn't going to lose, this baby will be washed whether he likes it or not. By the end Cletus is also a bit soaked as RJ kept splashing the water, but he was clean now, so another victory for today. Once RJ was dried and dressed he was soon getting sleeping and Cletus took him to the little crib Goal had got for him. Then locked the door as he left so RJ couldn't leave. Finally, some peace and quiet that he doesn't need to worry about.

After some time Goal had finally come home. Perfect timing as RJ was awake and needed attention. She wondered why the door was locked though but could figure a general reason for why. She picked up RJ then and went to check on Cletus who had fallen asleep on the couch. Just an afternoon of watching RJ was so tiring. Goal is at least happy to see things didn't seem to have fallen to chaos, she may need Cletus to babysit more often. She'll tell him when he wakes up though.


	10. A new life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we skip ahead a few years and see the end of this story

It had been years now since Elysium fell. Any survivors that made it out of the wreck had plenty of time to adjust to living on Deponia. Of course not all of them lived without complaints. Even after years of living within the trash, Cletus could always find plenty to complain about and never stop complaining about them. Aside from the trash in general there was one thing Cletus could always complain about. And that was RJ's behavior. The little tike was five now, which just meant he could talk back now.

"but I want to go to the pier butthead." RJ had grown quite a few nicknames for Cletus, but only said them when Goal wasn't around.

"you're not going anywhere you hear me?"

Cletus was left in charge of watching RJ again as Goal was out running some errands. He hated being left alone with RJ but at least it shouldn't have been too long for Goal to get back. RJ wouldn't make the time easy though as he was hellbent on going to the pier to go swim. RJ would try and get to the door but Cletus would just grab his arm and pull him away.

"I said no, so stop trying."

"nooooooo, I want to go outside."

"you are staying inside you little brat."

RJ then drops to the floor face down and pouts. Cletus just lets him go at that point and lets him stay there. This is RJ's way of throwing a tantrum while Goal is gone, by just becoming dead weight and not talking to anyone. He would yell but he only does so to grab Goal's attention, but as she was not home right now he was quiet. Cletus just left him then so the kid could calm down on his own, he needed a break anyway. That was a mistake though as only a few minutes later RJ made his escape and Cletus only noticed when he went to check on the little rugrat and saw he was gone. 

Cletus rolled his eyes, groaned a bit, and made his way out the door to get RJ and drag him back home. He headed towards the pier and halfway there he found RJ.

"there you are you little hellion, now get back here."

RJ just ran away though so of course Cletus had to chase after him. The chase seemed short enough though as they both soon ran into Goal. RJ quickly ran up to hug and hide behind her leg.

"Mommy!"

"hello sweetie, why are you two running around?"

"Cletus keeps chasing me, make him stop!"

"He ran out of the house behind my back. I was merely trying to take him home."

"he was gonna hit me."

"now that's just a lie. Goal you know he's lying."

"ok enough, both of you. Why don't we all go home then, I'm just about done anyway."

"Can we go to the pier, pretty please mommy?" RJ starts making puppy dog eyes to help convince Goal.

"not right now, but if you stay good then maybe in a bit alright?"

"ok!"

The three head back home then and Goal puts away all the things she bought. Cletus finally went to really relax as RJ had Goal to watch over him now. But before Cletus could go to his room, to earn extra good boy points RJ offered him one of his stuffed toys as an apology for earlier. A small stuffed rabbit that had many patches and stitches holding the poor thing together. Cletus just rolled his eyes again, took it, and left it in the hall before entering his room. RJ got a few pats on the head from Goal for being such a good boy.

After a bit since RJ did stay a good boy, Goal took him to the pier to let him play around in the water a little. RJ learned to be a pretty good swimmer and always liked going under the water to find secrets and show them off to Goal. The secrets were mainly rocks but they were cool rocks ok. The two stayed there for a while until Goal thought it's been enough time in the water, she didn't want a raisin for a son after all. So RJ dries off a bit and they both head home.

When out shopping Goal got some things in order to make cookies, she was in a baking mood today. RJ wanted to help out and he was allowed to but only to mix the batter. That may have not been the best idea though as after RJ was done mixing, a fourth of the batter was all over him.

"hehe, RJ you know that's not where the batter goes."

"I had to mix it extra good to make good cookies."

"I know you did, but now go bathe off all that batter ok."

"no wait, I can just lick it off." RJ then tries to clean his face by licking off all the batter, but he knew it wouldn't work as he tried licking the batter off of his nose but just couldn't reach.

"good try, now go on and have a bath. If you get extra clean you'll get extra cookies when they're done."

With the treat in mind RJ goes for a bath with ease. He'd do anything for cookies. He was a bit dissapointed though after his bath because he believed that he would get cookies right after it, but no he had to wait until after dinner for all those sweets. He even got pouty from it but Goal quickly lifted his spirit with a game of hide and seek.

RJ went for the most perfect spot ever, under Cletus' bed. Cletus was enjoying a nap anyway so he didn't notice the munchkin entering his room and hiding under the bed. It really was a good spot as it took Goal quite a bit to find him. But she soon found the door slightly open and little feet sticking out from under the bed. She quietly entered then to not disturb Cletus and laid on the floor next to RJ's feet then spoke in a whisper.

"my and what might be under here?"

"... nobody's home."

"oh is that so?"

"yes, come back later."

"alright then, bye bye forever then." RJ then shifted his position until it was his head poking out from under the bed instead.

"forever?" He sounded a bit sad, he didn't want mommy to go forever.

"not unless you come with, care to come out now?"

"ok." They both quietly leave and Cletus was still sound asleep.

It wasn't too much longer until dinner, and RJ was sure to eat quickly so he could get to his extra cookies already. As promised, once he was done he was given his cookies and soon enjoyed all three of them.

Later on when it was about bed time for him, RJ tried his best to not be caught so he could stay up but just ended up falling asleep curled up in the closet. Goal found him like that after a bit and soon moved him to his bed so he could properly sleep. Before she left she gave a little goodnight kiss on his forehead and then let him rest.


End file.
